Gargoyles Timedancer: Bloodstone
by Gryphinwyrm7
Summary: Brooklyn and his temporary companions Benuthet and Zafira arrive in Guatemala 300 years before Zafira hatched. Now they have to unravel a mystery that haunts Zee's childhood, and confront the ghosts of her past and future.
1. Huay Chivo

**Gargoyles Timedancer:**

 **Bloodstone**

 **11\. 1. 16. 8.** **.6**

As the phantasmal flames of the Phoenix surrounded us, the temperature took a sharp, steep turn. Going from the bitter cold of what Brooklyn had referred to as the tallest mountains in the world, to the tropical humidity that I had grown up with all of my life.

I am Zafira. Actually, I've had many names in my life. More so than most gargoyles, I would wager. My human friend Three-Monkey called me 'Xnuk Ek'. When I donned the Sapphire Pendant for my clan, I became known as 'Ya'ax' or 'Blue". And most recently, I have acquired the name "Zafira". From what I have gathered, it is the feminine form of the name that Sapphire Pendant Bearers will be called in the future.

I like it because it's what my mate calls me. His name—yes, he has a name too—Is 'Benuthet' which apparently means 'Phoenix of Thoth' in his native tongue. He and his friend Brooklyn arrived in the Green one day, and helped the ChacIxchel Clan forge an alliance with Spanish deserters and Mayans against the Spanish Conquistadors who were ravaging the Green.

Benuthet also managed to save my life, and steal my heart in the process. After making certain that he felt the same about me, I chose to join him and his friend Brooklyn (so many gargoyles with names!) on their journey through time itself.

Brooklyn had been catapulted from his own time by the Phoenix. Now he was seeking a path home, to his own clan. That path had taken him to Benuthet's time, and Benuthet had unwittingly joined Brooklyn. Together, they had come to my time. And I had chosen to join them.

It had been a strange and wild ride. We had fought against an evil gargoyle bent on destroying the human race, a bizarre snake-demon who had possessed Benuthet's younger self, gotten ourselves mixed up in an actual war between two clans of gargoyles, battled pirates and a gigantic bird of prey, and most recently, fought alongside a small enclave of monks in a snow-covered mountain pass to defend them from a horde of invaders who slaughtered all in their path.

That one had been trying. I had never been so cold before in my life. Neither had my mate. I came from the tropical jungles of the Green. He came from the vast deserts of Egypt. Only Brooklyn came from a land where cold weather was known and even expected.

Strangely, he complained the most.

But the Phoenix had seen fit to take us from that mountainside temple. We tumbled through the flames and then suddenly found ourselves landing on soft grass. It was quite warm. I tore my thick mountain coat off, and tossed it aside. My mate and companion did the same.

As the flames faded around us, I looked around. It was bright out. Midday, or around thereabouts. It took me a moment to register that, actually. Having spent 12 years as the Sapphire Pendant Bearer, relinquishing the daytime takes quite a bit of getting used to.

"Day!" Benuthet snapped. "It is daylight!"

Our two beasts, Fu-dog (who was Brooklyn's pet) and Kebechet (who was Benuthet's) howled and looked confused by the bright sky.

"Okay people," Brooklyn said looking around. "We've got about two minutes, give or take until our bodies catch up and we go stone. What have we got?"

"A village of some kind!" Benuthet reported.

"A Mayan village!" I exclaimed, suddenly looking around. The architecture was a little different, and the clothing styles were older than my time, but this was undoubtedly a Mayan village. A tall black pyramid loomed over the village, and I realized that we were on the edge of a corn field.

"Are we back in your time, Zee?" Brooklyn asked. 'Zee' is my final name. A nickname that Brooklyn gave me that—frankly—I never understood. I don't know why he calls me that. But Benuthet has also taken to using it sometimes, and I like the way it sounds coming from his lips.

What can I say? When I fell for him, I fell hard. I make no apologies for it.

"No," I said, shaking my head. Several Mayan villagers were approaching us with curiosity. "This is earlier, before I hatched. I don't know this pyramid."

Or did I? The tall black-onyx pyramid definitely looked very familiar.

Benuthet was rifling through his satchel. He did that often. He had a habit of picking up trinkets and talismans from our journeys. He would retrieve them if he felt that they might be of use.

"Ah-ha!" He pulled out a small, glowing blue crystal from the satchel and tossed it at me. As soon as the crystal touched my talon, it turned to solid sapphire for the briefest of moments.

"Use it wisely, my love," he said, before turning slate gray and hardening into stone. Brooklyn shuddered and then transformed as well. Fu-dog and Kebechet quickly followed, leaving only myself as flesh.

I hung the Orichalcum pendant around my neck. This was my mate's handiwork. He was an accomplished sorcerer back in his own clan. When he came to my time period, he had been able to use the Orichalcum crystals to mimic the effects of our enchanted pendants. Temporarily, anyway.

He had kept one for emergencies. I suppose he gave it to me, because I was Mayan myself. The fact that I was still flesh meant that whatever the date, it was sometime after 10 Baktun, 8 katun, 7 tun, 0 uinal, 10 k'in. That was the day that the Sun Amulet was forged.

The Mayan Calendar is very specific, and our clan storykeepers keep excellent records.

My suspicions were confirmed when a large black gargoyle glided down and landed in front of me.

He was a muscular, tall serpentine gargoyle His skin was black as coal, but his reptilian belly was white, as was his hair. His feathered wings were black and white patterned, like a falcon or harpy-eagle. His face was reptilian, though he had a goatee on his lower jaw.

He was pretty young. My own age, if I was to hazard a guess.

I cloaked my wings, and using my wing fingers discretely tucked my Orichalcum pendant behind my poncho-top.

"Greetings!" he said, smiling excitedly. "I am Obsidian! Leader of the Obsidian Clan here at CamazotzKukulkan. I'm so pleased to meet you!"

 _So,_ I thought. _This is the era when Pendant Bearers were named after the stones themselves, rather than their color like in my day. That was…Three hundred or so years ago._

I considered calling myself "Orichalcum" but thought better of my self. I told a half-truth.

"I am Sapphire," I said, naming myself after the pendant that I used to wear/would someday wear.

"These are my friends and companions," I said.

"Yes, yes," Obsidian interrupted. "But I have never met another Pendant-Bearer before. The Jade, Sapphire, and Turquoise Clans all live so far away. I would be honored if you might join me for lunch?"

"With all due respect, Obsidian," I said. "I would rather not leave my friends."

"They will be safe. Our village is friendly."

"I would rather not leave my _mate_ ," I emphasized, placing a talon on my stone lover's mane.

I found my mate to be very attractive. Okay, I know that all females think this about their mates, but I have yet to see one compare to mine. His fur and mane are white, pure white, and his feathered wings stretch out behind him, also white.

His face, framed by his mask-like mane is quizzical, and looks like a pure-white jaguar face. It's especially cute when he's reading or thinking hard and he scrunches up his nose, just like a jaguar.

"You…your mate?" Obsidian said, drooping slightly. He was very lonely, I realized suddenly. Not that I blamed him. Being the only gargoyle in your clan to remain flesh while the others sleep would be incredibly lonely. It was a feeling that I knew very well as a former Pendant Bearer myself.

By the Creator, even right now, I was wishing for my lover's wisdom, or one of Brooklyn's strange quips.

I glanced at Benuthet's stone form.

"On the other talon," I said, feeling sympathetic. "I do know how lonely it can be, being a Pendant Bearer. My friends should be quite safe in your village?"

"Of course," Obsidian said, cloaking his wings. "You have my oath."

"Then perhaps a tour would not be remiss," I said.

"Excellent," Obsidian said, grinning. "You're going to love it here at CamazotzKukulkan!"

My stomach twisted into knots at the name of the pyramid, and I began wringing my wing fingers over each other. I did know this pyramid, though I tried not to think about it often. I quickly kissed Benuthet on the cheek, human-style, and walked away from the stone forms of my friends.

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"Tamales!" I exclaimed excitedly. I hadn't had tamales in weeks. Not since leaving the Green. I did miss them.

"Eat," Obsidian said. "Enjoy!"

A massive table, covered with food rested at the base of the large black pyramid. This area looked so different in my time. Overrun by jungle, and the onyx pyramid partially buried. But in this time period, it was vibrant, bright. The jungle was mostly cleared away, and a large, sprawling Mayan village surrounded us.

I could see roughly 80 or so gargoyles resting in stone sleep at various intervals atop the onyx pyramid. If I remembered my clan history correctly, at this point in time, there were three other clans, each roughly the same size, maybe bigger, maybe smaller, at three of the 4 other pyramids. ChacIxchel, where I hatched, was the centermost pyramid. I wasn't sure if there were gargoyles living at ChacIxchel yet, though. Originally the four clans lived in the outer four pyramids, each with a village to protect beneath them. This was the arrangement with the Mayans.

At a certain point, the Sapphire clan was forced to flee from IxtabGukumatz to ChacIxchel, which prior to that migration had been a ceremonial pyramid. But I wasn't entirely certain when that had occurred.

In fact, I wasn't exactly sure when I was now.

"Obsidian?" I asked, unwrapping my tamale from the plantain leaf that surrounded it. I took a bite, and savored the hot peccary meat in the center of the gooey wrapping.

I loved tamales.

"Yes?" the Serpentine gargoyle said.

"What year-Er—I mean, what is today's date?"

"It is 11 Baktun, 1 Katun, 16 tun, 8 uinal, 6 k'in," He said, looking confused indeed. "How do you not know the date?"

I didn't answer him, as I was doing the math in my head. I had left my clan to travel with Brooklyn and my mate from 11 baktun, 17 katun, 0 tun, 15 uinal, 1 k'in.

.1, form .6…

Three hundred _Haab_ to the very day, unless my math was off. Which is wasn't, as I am impeccable at math.

Almost a full baktun. The Spanish had not yet arrived in the Mayan territories. Indeed, they hadn't even left their own lands.

"Sapphire? Are you well?" Obsidian asked.

"I am fine," I said, stepping away from the black-skinned gargoyle. "I was just calculating something."

"Is there something that you want to-," he started to say.

" _Cacao!_ " I said excitedly. I hadn't had proper _cacao_ in weeks. I truly had missed some of the finer points of our clan. I picked up the cup containing the beverage and took a deep sip.

Bitter and spicy, just as it was meant to taste. It soothed my nerves. The sweet cacao bars that the Germans of the twelfth baktun ate were all right, but this was proper cacao drink. The beverage of the Mayan Kings.

"Do I detect jalapeno?" I asked, taking another sip.

"Oh yes, it is the local recipe," Obsidian said. "Do you like it?"

"The Sapphire Clan recipe is better," I said truthfully. "The jalapeno should be more subtle, your recipe overpowers the bitter flavor of the cacao plant."

"I'll be sure to pass that knowledge on to the village cacao farmers," he said.

I was about to say more, when I heard a sound that shook the entire village. I could see dozens of birds taking off from the cornfields.

I dropped my cup in a panic. _Benuthet_!

My mate's sleeping form was in danger, and I _left_ him there unguarded.

I mentally cursed myself, dropped to all fours and began loping towards the cornfield.

"Sapphire, wait!" Obsidian yelled after me, but quickly found that he could not keep up.

I trick I had learned as a hatchling. Having legs gave you an advantage over your serpentine siblings in one regard. Loping on all fours, you can move far faster than they can slither.

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There were more than a dozen creatures emerging from the cornfield. They were bizarre looking. As though someone had taken a goat, a beast, and a howler and melted them together over a fire.

Large, sharp fangs, like that of a howler. Three-clawed feet, like that of a beast; and like a beast, I suspected that they were capable of piercing stone. And curved, ram-like horns erupting from atop their head. Their eyes glowed red, like a female beast's eyes.

I had never seen a creature like them before, but I did know what they were. I'd heard stories about them since I was a hatchling. The _Huay Chivo_ , the devourer of livestock.

All the stories about the _Huay Chivo_ indicated that they lived north of here, though. I had no time to dwell on that; however. The creatures were entering the village. Not only were the villagers in danger; so were the sleeping forms of every gargoyle in the village.

I drew my obsidian sword, and lunged at the nearest one, which was sniffing at Fu-Dog's stone form.

I sliced clean through its head, and the creature crumbled to dust. I hadn't expected that. Apparently this had angered the other _Huay Chivo_. They surged towards me. Before the first one got near me, however.

" _Baat!_ " Obsidian declared. A glowing green war axe appeared in his hand, and he hurled it at the nearest _Huay Chivo._ It crumbled into dust, much like the first one.

The axe dissolved into green energy.

" _U meyah xwaay?_ " I asked, turning and looking at him.

"You are a sorcerer?" I asked him.

" _Baat!"_ he replied, and two more battle axes appeared in his talons. He sliced at the _Huay Chivo_ and they looked at him in confusion, before immediately scampering off in the direction of the jungle.

"Gratitude," I said, walking over to my friends, inspecting their stone forms for damage. There appeared to be none. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Those creatures shouldn't return," Obsidian said. "If you wish to return to the feast…

"No," I said firmly. "I won't leave my friends again."

"I'm sure that they are safe," he said.

"'No,' means no," I said.

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There was a cracking sound as Brooklyn, Fu-Dog, Kebechet, and Benuthet awakened with roars, and I could hear the roars of the CamazotzKukulkan Clan awakening on the nearby pyramid.

"My love," Benuthet said, wrapping me up in his feathered wings. "You were magnificent today, those goat-creatures did not stand a chance."

"You saw that?" I asked.

"One of those Bob-Dream things?" Brooklyn asked, bending down and petting Fu-Dog absently.

" _Ba_ dreams, Brooklyn," Benuthet said, rolling his eyes. "As I've told you before. And this must be Obsidian. It is a pleasure to meet a fellow sorcerer. I was most intrigued by that axe spell you cast."

Obsidian had slithered around the corner of the cornfield to greet us.

"You…Wait…How did you…?"

"It is one of my mate's more…Annoying magics," I said, teasingly. "His spirit wanders about while he is stone. Apparently he was with us today."

"For a time," Benuthet said. "After those goat-creatures fled, my spirit followed them for a while. Back to their nest. I think it was a nest. A cavern, filled with bones, likes some sort of midden."

"You know where our attackers sleep?" Obsidian asked, sounding very surprised.

"Yes," Benuthet said. "It is not far."

"This…this is good," Obsidian said. "Those creatures have been plaguing our village for far too long."

"You didn't mention that before," I said, turning and looking at Obsidian.

"I did not wish to upset you," He said, bowing cordially. "You are a guest in my clan's home after all."

"As are my friends," I said, gesturing to Brooklyn and Benuthet.

"Of course," he said.

"Look," Brooklyn interrupted. "Not all of us have Bob-Dreams. Or get to spend the day _not_ napping as concrete, so I kinda feel like I'm playing catch-up here."

"I will fill you in," I said. "Sufficient for now, Brooklyn, this is Obsidian, the leader of the local CamazotzKukulkan clan. We are some…"

I hesitated, trying to recall the distance measurements that Benuthet had taught me were the standard in his land.

"Twenty-Five leuga from ChacIxchel, where I hatched," I said, running the calculations in my head again.

"Okay," Brooklyn said. "Next question…what the heck is a 'leuga'?"

My beloved sighed heavily. "Brooklyn, I've gone over this before…"

"Anyway!" Brooklyn said, interrupting Benuthet. He held out his arm towards Obsidian. "Pleasure, to meet you."

Obsidian clasped his arm in return.

"Benuthet," Obsidian said, turning towards my mate. "I wonder if I can get your opinion on a few spells and talismans that I have been forging. I haven't really had another _waay_ to consult with."

Benuthet brightened. He was always eager to learn, as well as pass on his own knowledge of sorcery.

"I would love to!" he said, brightening. I began wringing my wing-fingers in each other again.

"I have a mirror that I am working on, when complete, it may be able to transfer souls!" he said.

"Soul transfers are tricky," Benuthet said. "And require voluntary participants."

"And have _very_ loose definitions of the word 'voluntary'," Brooklyn interjected angrily.

"It is that difficulty for which I wish to seek your opinion. On it, and on other projects."

Benuthet nodded, and glanced down at my cloaked wings, and frowned. Taking my talons in his he directed us off to the side, leaving Brooklyn and Obsidian alone for a moment. They politely stepped aside to give us further privacy.

"Are you all right, my love?" he asked. "You are doing that thing with your wing fingers again. Which you do every time you are nervous."

I blinked. I hadn't realized that Benuthet had picked up on that habit of mine. I immediately made the conscious choice to stop.

I took a deep breath.

"It's fine. I am fine, my beloved _Sak Chakmool,_ I said. _White Jaguar._ My moniker of love for him.

"If you are certain my _Meryt Nefer,_ " he responded. We stroked each other's hair, before parting ways. Benuthet followed Obsidian.

"I smell food," Brooklyn said, looking at me. "There's food nearby, right?"

"Yes," I said smiling half-heartedly. I began wringing my wing-fingers again.

"Okay," Brooklyn asked. "You've been acting...Weird since I woke up. And based on Benny's reaction a few minutes ago…I'm guessing you've been acting pretty strange since we got here."

I leaned up against the wall of a nearby hut, taking a deep breath.

"When I was thirty, I snuck into CamazotzKukulkan—Which has been abandoned by my time—with my rookery brother and my close human friend Three-Monkey."

"And…"

"And I am the only one who made it out alive," I said.

"Jeeze, Zee…" Brooklyn said. "Did you tell Benuthet this?"

"No," I said. "And I don't intend to. I don't need him worrying about me. I will be fine."

"I don't know," Brooklyn said. "I don't think that this is the sort of thing you should keep from your mate."

"And how would you know?" I asked him.

"Ouch," Brooklyn said, looking directly at me. The hurt look in his eyes made me instantly regret my words. I knew that Brooklyn was very lonely. He had spent quite a bit of time alone before he had met Benuthet and myself. And the fact that we had become mates was probably somewhat awkward for him.

And with a careless word, I had hit him where he was most vulnerable, and I think that I had done it because I could. Just to be mean.

"Brooklyn," I said, suddenly stepping forward. "I'm sorry. I said that just to hurt you."

"It worked."

"But I didn't mean it," I said. "I was just lashing out. This place…Even though it hasn't happened yet, this place brings back bad memories."

"Yeah," Brooklyn said. "I'm no stranger to those. Do you think that the Phoenix has brought us to this time and place to help you deal with your childhood trauma?"

"No, Brooklyn," I said, looking over at the tall black pyramid. "I'm terrified that the Phoenix brought us to this time and place to help cause my childhood trauma."

 _ **To Be Continued…**_


	2. Eek' Chapaat

**Gargoyles Timedancer:**

 **Bloodstone**

 **11\. 16. 0. 8. 6**

 _I darted swiftly through the underbrush. I knew my way through the Green better than most of the hatchlings of my generation, but even I had never been out this far._

 _A jaguar looked surprised as I whipped past her nose. She made me a little nervous. They didn't usually go for gargoyles, but I was alone and away from the rest of the clan. I might be a tempting target. The jaguar didn't actually think so however, and ignored me._

 _I darted up a tree, scattering a few striped mantises as I climbed. I leapt from branch to branch like a Howler._

 _I traveled east though I wasn't really going anywhere in particular. Then I saw it, rising up half-buried by the jungle. It was massive onyx pyramid; CamazotzKukulkan. I hadn't even realized that I'd traveled that far. I moved towards it when suddenly I felt a talon clamp down on my shoulder._

Oh no, _I thought as I spun around to face my rookery parent._ My cold mother.

 _That was what the hatchlings called her. "The Cold Mother". She had a reputation among the rookery mothers. Green-Mother was a pushover. Yellow-Mother had a temper, and we avoided her. Chubby mother loved to feed us extra helpings of wasp-larva paste. But Cold-Mother was the disciplinarian. She wasn't unloving, not at all. But her punishments for the hatchlings being unruly were…Creative._

 _She was dark grey with long black hair. She wore an unusual green dress of a strange material. She wasn't actually Mayan. Though the ChacIxchel Clan had adopted her. She claimed to be the only survivor from a clan far to the south. She came to us, having heard about our clan from another gargoyle who passed through her former protectorate._

 _She had instantly become smitten with a red-skinned blue-winged gargoyle who single-handedly saved the clan from a raid by Aztecs from the north. They, along with Box and so many others were among my rookery parents._

 _"What are you doing child?" Cold-Mother demanded. "The whole clan is looking for you."_

 _I refused to look her in the eyes._

 _"Box thinks you went north to KawillAhPukuh. Most of them are looking up that way."_

 _"I was just…Exploring," I said._

 _Cold-Mother glanced over at the Onyx pyramid._

 _"Box has forbidden anyone to trespass on the CamazotzKukulkan pyramid. And I know from experience, that when Box forbids such things, he's usually right."_

 _"He doesn't know everything," I countered, still not looking her in the eyes._

 _"Oh most definitely, my defiant daughter," Cold-Mother said. "And I'm sure that one day, you'll be the one to prove him wrong. After all…He was wrong about which direction you fled."_

 _I bit my lip._

 _"It was my blue-skinned rookery brother," I said, biting back tears. "He was making fun of my legs."_

 _"That's a silly thing to mock," Cold-Mother said, surprising me with the amusement in her voice. "Box has legs. The purple one has legs. The scarlet-warrior from the generation before yours has legs. Even I have legs."_

 _"But I am the only hatchling from my clutch with legs," I said. "And he says that that makes me weird. He says that means that I will never have a mate because none of my rookery brothers will like my legs."_

 _"Well that's silly," Cold-Mother said. "My red-skinned mate is serpentine, and has never once complained about my legs.'_

 _"And I'll let you in on a little secret, child," Cold-Mother bent down. "Your future-mate, whomever he or she might be, will not care about your appearance. They will care about you. Your ferocity. Your kindness. Your head for numbers. Those are the things that they will prize. Not your legs or lack thereof."_

 _She glanced around, as if the Green itself was listening. "If you can't find a mate who doesn't prize those qualities, then they aren't worth mating with. I went a very long time before taking a mate. Because I'm not willing to settle for anything less. Don't you settle either."_

 _"I won't," I said, shaking my head._

 _"How does it make you feel, when your blue-skinned brother mocks you?" She asked, curiously._

 _"Awful," I said. "Like a centipede crawling down my back."_

 _I shuddered._

 _"Well then we must balance it out, child," Cold-Mother said. "You find the centipede, and I'll put it down his back."_

 _My eyes widened in surprise._

 _"Balance is important, young one," Cold-Mother said. "If I teach my rookery daughters only one thing in their lives, it is that balance is important."_

 _She might have been Cold-Mother to my siblings…But from that night on, to me at least, she was my Balanced-Mother._

 **11\. 1. 16. 8. 6**

I bent down, and handed two unwrapped tamales to Fu-Dog and Kebechet. The two beasts eagerly gobbled the treats up.

"Does something about this place seem…off…To you, Zee?" Brooklyn asked.

"How so?" I asked.

"We've got a village of both humans and gargoyles," Brooklyn said, picking some food off of the table and placing them in a tortilla shell. "But both seem utterly terrified. "They're all avoiding us."

I nodded. It was definitely true. The humans seemed to be clustering by the fire or hiding in their huts. The gargoyles seemed to be gathering food from the table and then scampering away as quickly as possible.

Neither species seemed particularly eager to chat with us.

"This is good," Brooklyn said, popping something small and brown and crispy into his beak. "Tastes kind of like apples. What is it?"

I glanced at the fare on his tortilla. "Fried cockroach," I said absently. Brooklyn's eyes widened and his face turned green.

"We should ask around," I said. "See if we can get any of them to talk to us…"

"Excuse me little one," I said trotting over to a small turquoise colored male. He was quite young, 22 years at most. The same as an 11 year old human. Coincidentally—or perhaps not so coincidentally, he seemed to be having a conversation with an 11 year old human girl. Their apparent friendliness with each other is what drew my attention to them.

"Can I ask you some questions?"

He glanced over at his human friend. She shook her head.

"You should not be here," she said.

"It's not safe," the turquoise hatchling agreed.

"Go back to your own clan while you still can," the human said. "Before he decides that he wants-."

She froze. Then the pair of kids bolted. Darting away from me and the table full of food, and into the cornfield.

"Curious," I said

"Weird," Brooklyn said at the same time.

"What is happening?" Benuthet asked, sliding up behind us, wrapping his arms around me instinctively.

I sighed in frustration.

"I was just trying to get those hatchlings to open up to me. Something must have spooked them," I said, nuzzling his mane with my forehead crest.

"They're just playing a game, I'm certain," Obsidian said slithering up next to us.

I wasn't convinced however. This village was scared. These people were terrified. And I couldn't help but think that somehow Obsidian was responsible.

"My love," I said, pulling Benuthet to my side. "You must try the proper _cacao."_

"I would be delighted," my mate said, taking the small cup. He took a sip. His eyes then widened, and he began coughing.

"I did not quite expect it to be so spicy," he commented, coughing still.

"You were expecting something like the sweets of the Germani, am I right?" I said smirking.

He nodded sheepishly.

"Silly _Sak Chakmool,_ " I said shaking my head.

"Only for you, my _Meryt Nefer_ ," he replied.

"As cute as you guys are…" Brooklyn said.

"He is right," I turned towards Benuthet. "It is time to deal with the threat of the _Huay Chivo_."

He nodded in agreement.

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"Zee…Are you LOST?" Brooklyn asked me incredulously.

Frustrated I slashed at a nearby bush with my obsidian blade. A low growl gurgled up from my throat. My eyes flickered red.

"Sorry I asked?" Brooklyn said backing away. I sighed in frustration.

"Three hundred _Haab_ ," I sighed, releasing a deep breath. "Is in fact, a very long time. The Green is…completely different from my time. None of the trees or trails is the same. I'm not even certain where this cave Benuthet spoke of is. It might have collapsed or filled with water and become a cenote by my time."

"I can attempt to reconstruct the path from memory, if you would like, my _Meryt,"_ Benuthet said quietly.

"I feel so useless," I muttered under my breath.

"Let me look around and see if I can get my bearings," Benuthet said. "Things often look different during the day."

"I'll go with you," Brooklyn commented. "I need to talk to you about something anyway. It's magic related."

I sat down on a stone as Benuthet and Brooklyn stepped out of my sight, Fu-dog and Kebechet following on their heels. I curled my tail around the stone and closed my eyes, focusing my mind.

 _"You have become a monster, Brother," I said. "And you must be destroyed."_

My eyes snapped open and I sucked in more air.

"I can do this," I murmured. Obsidiano and my balanced-mother, my wise-mother, my hunter-father, my teacher-father…All of my parents taught me to be strong, and I refused to be weak. To give into my fears, my insecurities was the ultimate weakness. I had to—

My thoughts were interrupted by the _Chakmool_ that attacked me from behind. The cat was clawing at my back and had me pinned down before I even realized what was happening.

It was very unusual for a jaguar to attack a _coatl,_ they much prefer to hunt Howlers or peccaries. We are usually too tough or dangerous for them to take on. But this one had attacked from behind, taking me completely off guard. I was pinned and the beast was clawing at my back.

"ARRRRGH!" I roared, my vision blurring slightly with the surge of red-tint that indicated my eyes were glowing.

Suddenly I heard the sound of a beast barking, and the weight of the _Chakmool_ on my back was gone. I was on my feet in a flash as I saw Fu-dog grappling with the jaguar. I also noticed something unique about this jaguar. A bloodstone pendant dangled from its neck. I recognized that pendant.

"Good boy, Fu-dog," I said, surging forward and snapping the pendant off of the jaguar's neck. It suddenly looked panic-stricken, confirming my suspicions. It barreled past Fu-dog, and lunged at me. I clutched the pendant tightly but allowed the bloodstone to come in contact with the jaguar's flesh. A soft red glow surrounded the animal, and a moment later a young mayan girl stood in the jaguar's place. I pulled the pendant back, and tucked it into the belt of my loincloth.

"Please," she said, as Fu-dog growled at her. "Please…He'll kill me."

"Who will..." I started to ask when I heard a sharp whistle from the Green. Fu-dog was off like a shot into the underbrush. When I glanced back, the girl had taken off too. In the opposite direction.

"Zee!" Brooklyn exclaimed as he and Benuthet rushed out of the brush to my side. "Jesus! What happened to you?"

"I was attacked by a _Chakmool,_ " I said.

Benuthet cocked an eyebrow ridge at me as he fished an Orichalcum Crystal from his satchel.

"Not you, my love," I said. "An actual jaguar…Or not an actual Jaguar. I believe you recognize this?"

I held up the bloodstone pendant carved into the shape of jaguar head.

"I do indeed," Benuthet said, pressing the cold Orichalum up against the claw marks on my back. I could feel the surges of energy as he healed each wound. "The talisman that allowed Six-Jaguar to shapeshift."

"It was a woman. She ran off before I could question why she assaulted me," I said. "Though I have some suspicions. If not for Fu-dog however, I suspect that this might have been time for my Wind Ceremony."

"What?" Brooklyn asked.

"Fu-dog rescued me from the Were-Jaguar," I repeated.

"Fu-dog and Kebechet were with us the entire time," Brooklyn said. "They never left our sight."

"My love," Benuthet said, before I could ponder this, as he healed the last scratch. "Why did you not tell me about what happened at this pyramid when you were a hatchling?"

I felt my eyes flicker red again, and I turned and snarled at Brooklyn. "You TOLD him?"

"Sorry Zee," Brooklyn said, stepping back. "I'm pulling rank. You guys elected me leader. So I made a judgment call."

"The Phoenix made you leader," Benuthet said, turning me around so that I could look him in the eyes. "The fact that we chose to follow you on the journey makes us your followers, Brooklyn. And I…Love you more than words can ever express, my Zafira. My evening star. I do not wish to see you in pain."

"I do not wish for my weaknesses to-," I started to say.

"My love," Benuthet interrupted. "Pain is not weakness. On the contrary, it is the Creator's way of reminding us that we are still alive. And that pain is NOT a burden to be shouldered alone. We are mates. You and I will be one forever. Your pain is my pain, and my pain is yours. You know my burden."

He tapped his satchel.

"I was a slave of Apophis, tricked by a gargoyle I thought I loved," Benuthet said. "After Isfet…I never dreamed I'd ever find love. Never even looked for it. But Fate and the Phoenix had other plans, and saw fit to bring me to you. You took on my burdens and my pain, and stood by my side in my darkest hour. Will you not allow me to the same?"

"Oh I am such a fool," I said. I lunged forward and embraced Benuthet. "Can you ever forgive me, my love?"

"There is nothing to forgive," Benuthet said. "So long as going forward, we face everything together."

"And you say, 'Brooklyn was Right'," Brooklyn said, grinning mischievously. "Anytime."

"I will kiss a Howler before I say such a thing," I said, grabbing a clump of moss and flinging it at Brooklyn.

'Lucky monkey," Benuthet said chuckling.

"Yeah, she's back," Brooklyn said rolling his eyes. "Now let's show her the thing."

"What thing?" I demanded, eyeing the boys suspiciously.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"There should not be a temple here," I said staring at the small grey pyramid.

"That's what Benny said," Brooklyn commented.

"There is where I saw the cave in my _Ba_ dream," Benuthet said quietly.

"But now it's a pyramid," I said. "Could your vision have been wrong?"

" _Ba_ dreams are not visions," Benuthet said. "My spirit physically occupies the location where it wanders to. I'm there, literally, in spirit, tethered to my body by my _Ka._ "

"You're saying that this pyramid…" I murmured. "Was built in the time between your dream and now?"

"It is the only explanation." Benuthet said.

"It doesn't make sense," I said. "Mayans build pyramids in fives. One in the center, and four satellite pyramids for each cardinal direction. ChacIzchel is the center. CamazotzKukulcan is the easternmost pyramid. K'waiilAhPukuh is the northernmost. IxtabGukumatz is westernmost, and CipactliTzultacaj lies to the south. There shouldn't be a pyramid here. It flies in defiance of the Mayan religion."

"Yeah we think that it's a trap too," Brooklyn commented dryly.

"It must be," I said. "And the entrance is at the base, not the top. This is not how Mayan Pyramids are designed."

"So we gonna go spring the trap, or what?" Brooklyn wondered.

"We must," Benuthet said. "Those goat-creatures must be dealt with."

"Zee," Brooklyn said. "I know that you're not exactly having a fun time here, but…"

"You need me to take point," I said drawing my obsidian blade. "Because I am likely to know what lies beyond.

Benuthet picked up a sturdy looking branch and wrapped several linens from his satchel around the end of it. He took his curved ivory wand and tapped the tip of the stick. " _A'max"_

It ignited into a torch.

I approached the entrance to the cave. A bat attempted to fly out of the entrance to the pyramid, only to be snatched out of the air by a centipede as thick as my arm dangling from the entrance.

"Jesus!" Brooklyn yelped in surprise.

"Yeshua?" Benuthet wondered.

"I would advise not getting stung by those centipedes," I said. "They are not deadly—well not to us—but their sting is extremely painful and will last until dawn."

"Sound advice," Benuthet said quietly as we ducked under the dangling centipedes. I shuddered at the memory of this same centipede crawling down my rookery brother's back.

The interior of the pyramid appeared to be hollow. It was just a large open space. I saw no sign of the _Huay Chivo._

"Perhaps," Benuthet started to say, when a loud scrabbling sound interrupted his thoughts. He held his torch aloft and recoiled in horror, we all did, at the sight before us.

It was a massive centipede. As thick as a crocodile, its many legs scrabbling along the ground before us. Fu-dog and Kebechet growled at it. It was at least 40 arm-lengths long.

"Holy shit!" Brooklyn exclaimed.

"The chinks in the armor look vulnerable!" Benuthet said. With a lunge, he took his sword and struck at the creature. Brooklyn and I instinctively followed suit. We each struck at a segment of centipede approximately 10 arm-lengths apart. The creature shrieked in pain and collapsed. We had cut into quarters.

"That was easier than I thought," Brooklyn said.

 **11\. 16. 0. 8. 6**

 _"If you would be so kind," Obsidiano—or as I knew him, Box, said, handing the tapir-skin drums to my gray-skinned balanced rookery mother. She gently placed the drums in her lap and began beating in a soothing rhythm._

 _"Now," Obsidiano said. "Where did we leave off last night?"_

 _"The Hero Twins had just slipped past the Nine Death Lords!" My green-skinned bat-faced rookery brother yelled._

 _"Ah yes," Obsidiano said. "Of course."_

 _He words fell into rhythm with my rookery mother's drumbeats, and he began to recount the story from memory, exactly as he had been told it when he was a hatchling._

 _"The twins dove deeper into Xibalba," Obsidiano continued. "Only to find their path blocked by a centipede as thick as a_ coatl. _Fearing nothing the twins struck the centipede in two places, cutting into thirds. But this was no ordinary centipede. Oh no. This was_ Eek' Chapaat! _The Demon Centipede. When cut along his body, Eek' Chapaat would regenerate, and each piece would become a new centipede. Suddenly the Twins faced not one, but now three giant Centipedes, each with their own venomous pincers."_

 **11\. 1. 16. 8. 6**

" _Eek' Chapaat!_ " I realized suddenly and far too late. I lunged forward and rammed my obsidian blade into the first segment of the centipede that I had cut. But I was too late. Because the three other sections of the giant centipede had begun moving, the first segment of each having transformed into a new head.

"Oh crap," Brooklyn muttered. At that moment a gust of wind passed through the entrance to the cave, and Benuthet's torchlight blew out.

"Crap indeed," Benuthet said dryly. A giant centipede lunged out of the darkness at my face.

"Crap!" I yelped. It was an understatement.

 _ **To Be Continued…**_


	3. Aluxo'ob

**Gargoyles Timedancer:**

 **Bloodstone**

 **11\. 16. 0. 8. 6**

 _I reached into the dried up cenote, my ears twitched as I heard the scittering scurrying scrabbling sound of the centipede trying to avoid my talon. I pinched the end of the creature and yanked it out of the hole._

 _It squirmed wildly as I held it out in front of me. My balanced mother held out a small clay jar. I quickly stuffed the centipede into the jar, and then giggled._

 _"Now you hold it tight, daughter," she said, handing me the jar. I could hear it scritching around inside._

 _"Now we shall return to ChacIxchel. Where we will teach your rookery brother how you felt."_

 _I clutched the jar to my chest as we began moving through the canopy, making our way back to the pyramid. Not far from our home we paused, and then leapt down from the trees onto the ground. Both of our ears twitched. We could hear voices speaking a strange langue._

 _"Who is that?" I asked._

 _My mother's eyes flickered red._

 _"Aztecs," she said. "They are at the pyramid. Fortunately most of the clan has gone north looking for you."_

 _"Why are they here?" I asked, shuddering slightly._

 _"Doubtless looking for more victims for that dark god of theirs."_

 _I shuddered again. The Aztecs worshiped a god called Huitzilopoctli. He was often represented by a hummingbird or an Eagle. They say he consumed hearts ripped straight from the chests of their victims. The Mayans and the Toltecs considered them barbarians. It was not hard to see why.  
_

 _Unfortunately they considered_ coatls _like us to be just as sacred. As such, we were just as good a sacrifice as a human. They had been forced back a few years ago by a coalition of Mayans, Toltecs, and other human tribes in the area who had been victims of the Aztec raids. This happened before I hatched. It was also the last time in clan memory that we had allied with the humans. It was during that battle that my balanced mother met my red-skinned, blue-winged father and she had joined our clan._

 _The Aztecs had been beaten back, but…they were not destroyed. Merely retreated to their swamp-city. They still sent raiding parties down south hoping to find victims of their cruel god from outside our walls._

 _My balanced mother crept closer to the pyramid. Suddenly a pair of arms grabbed me and yanked me up. I screamed._

 _The human warrior was strong, powerfully muscled. If I was an adult gargoyle, he would have been no match for me, but I was still but a child._

 _She turned and looked at the Aztec who held me. Her face was placid, calm and collected.._

 _"You put my daughter down this instant Aztec filth," she said calmly._

 _I struggled against the Aztec's arms, with little success._

 _"Coatl hearts are most sacred," he said in broken Quichean Mayan. "I take many back with me."_

 _My balanced mothers eyes flickered red. She growled at the human, trying to intimidate him. It was the only time I had ever seen her eyes glow or a growl escape her fangs._

" _Put her down!" a second voice declared as my chubby-mother slithered up next to my balanced mother. Both of my mothers eyes flickered red._

 _"You forget, filthy Aztec," my blue-skinned rookery mother who taught the hatchlings about the plants of the Green. "We_ coatls _have many mothers and fathers"_

 _"You threaten our daughter and you face ALL our wrath," my gray-skinned balanced mother said._

 _"I fear the death of the sun more than wrath of Quetzalcoatl's chosen," the Aztec replied._

 _I squeezed the clay jar with my talon, shattering it apart. The centipede scurried out of the shards, and up my arm._

 _"OW!" I yelped as it stung my arm, but then scurried onto the Aztec, who instantly dropped me. My mothers lunged for me, snatching me away from the human and pulling me close._

 _"Box will be back soon," Chubby-Mother said._

 _"She was stung by the centipede," Balanced-Mother said. She looked at my blue-skinned mother._

 _"Get me papaya fruit, and the purple orchids that grow in the palmapple grove," she replied. My balanced mother nodded and was off like a shot. I clutched my arm in pain, but my mothers were all focused on me. None of them were watching the Aztec warrior. None of them saw the small horde of greenish-brown_ Aluxo'ob _launch out of the forest, and drag him away._

 _I could only stare at them in surprise, unable to articulate what I had seen to my mothers._

 **11\. 1. 16. 8. 7**

"Brooklyn!" I yelled. "Benuthet! It is no ordinary centipede! It is _Eek' Chapaat!_ Each slice upon its segments will grow into a new centipede!"

"What?" Brooklyn demanded.

"Oh _Jalapeña!"_ Benuthet swore.

I suppose I should explain that one. Apparently Brooklyn's clan uses the Jalapeño plant as a swear or oath of some sort. I'm somewhat unclear as to why, but Benuthet and I have fallen into the habit as well. It is possible that the mild flavor of the Jalapeño is not a strong enough bite for the tastes of the Manhattan Clan. Should I ever have the chance to meet them, I shall ensure that they have the opportunity to sample more potent peppers.

I hear the clash of steel-on-chitin exoskeleton, as Brooklyn swung at the centipede. I myself was wildly slashing away at the centipede lunging at me. I glanced over towards the boys. I did a double-take. It was hard to tell in this pitch blackness, but for the briefest of moments, I thought that Brooklyn was in two places at once.

Naturally, as nocturnal creatures, we _coatls_ are blessed with superior night vision. But no creature can see in absolute darkness, which is what we stood in now. A trick of the shadows of the darkness, no doubt.

With a thrusting motion, I buried my blade deep into the head of yet another giant centipede. That's when I heard my mate cry out in absolute pain. His eyes burned bright white. Enough light to illuminate his section of the cavern to my light-sensitive eyes. The centipede was clamped down on his stomach.

My own eyes lit up red, and abandoning my blade I lunged across the cavern, leaping onto the back of the giant centipede. My talons struck the head of the creature, and tore through the chitin like it was stone. I ripped everything I found in the creature's head out, and it collapsed to the ground, dead.

"Aarrrgh!" Benuthet screamed again, his pain quite evident.

I heard the striking of flint on steel, and a moment later Brooklyn approached with our torch relit. I could see his sword still embedded into the head of his own centipede.

"Jalapeña that looks bad," Brooklyn said. There was a massive red welt on Benuthet's stomach where he was stung. I lunged down and grabbed Benuthet's satchel, snatching it from his left shoulder where it usually hung.

I rapidly rifled through it and yanked out the other Orichalcum crystal and pressed it against the wound.

" **ARRRRGH!** " he roared clearly in excruciating pain. He grabbed the crystal and flung it across the cavern. I turned and looked back at my mate in shock.

"Orichalum…is…pure magic…In crystallized…form," he wheezed. "Under ordinary circumstances…it will regenerate damaged tissue…by default...unless... mentally…focused…to…do…otherwise…But…this venom…is magical in nature…the magic…won't…naturally regenerate…instead, it will…transform into more venom…making the wound worse."

"Jalapeña!" I exclaimed. "What can we do, my love?"

He winced.

"It is magical centipede venom," he confirmed. "But likely still centipede venom, thus it will have the nature of centipede venom."

"Then stone sleep should still purge it," I commented.

"Isn't that still a good six and a half hours away?" Brooklyn asked, looking at me worriedly.

"Yes," I said grimly. "That much venom might take his life before that happens."

"Are there any plants that could help?" Brooklyn asked. "That's your clan's specialty, right?"

I nodded. "The juice of the papaya fruit can be used to cure centipede bites. It was used on me when I was a hatchling and was bit by an ordinary centipede. Purple orchid helps speed the process."

"Go," Brooklyn said. "I'll keep an eye on him. Find the fruit."

"Take Kebechet with you," Benuthet said quietly. "She is swift of foot. When you find the fruit, she might be able to get back here faster than you can alone."

I nodded, whistling sharply. Kebechet darted to my side, and sat at attention. I grabbed Benuthet's satchel.

"I will place the plants in Benuthet's satchel and hang it around Kebechet's neck," I said. "If she gets here before I do, squeeze the juice into the wound, and hold it in place with the orchid petals, do you understand?"

Brooklyn nodded.

"Be…Careful…My love," Benuthet said.

"I love you," I whispered. "Kebechet, heel."

Fu-dog whined.

"No Fu," Brooklyn said. "I need you to stick with me. I want your eyes if there are more surprises in here.

I darted out of the temple, ducking under the ordinary centipedes dangling over the entrance. I snatched my obsidian sword from the head of the _Eek' Chapaat_ I swung the blade and knocked the centipedes from their perches. They scampered off into the jungle.

Then, like lightning, Kebechet and I darted into The Green.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I took stock of what was in Benuthet's satchel. A carnivorous tree seed. _Why did he keep that? Is he planning to grow one?_ I thought. The silver helm of Nabu, a Babylonian god. His mammoth ivory wand. A large chunk of ivory eggshell. A jeweled elephant goad. The serpent's crown. A couple of vials of dried leaves and dust. An Egyptian scroll I could not read. A large chunk of ice.

Wait…A large chunk of ice? Why was my mate keeping that in his satchel? I pulled it out, and immediately recognized what was frozen within the chunk of ice. It was a box of the German _cacao_ sweets. My heart melted. He was using his magic to keep them chilled so that they wouldn't melt, and presumably he was keeping them for my sake, since he knew my fondness for _cacoa_ no matter what form it takes.

My lips quivered. I needed to find that papaya fruit fast. Kebechet suddenly began growling.

I glanced over to where her nose was pointed, and a saw a tiny creature poking its head out of the brush. It was small, and reminded me of a cross between one of those lemur creatures from Madagascar and a frog. It was green and blue and brown with a large bulbous head. It was an _Alux_.

The _Aluxo'ob_ were a race of tiny magical men who had the power to help crops grow, in exchange for sweets. They were tricky, but mostly benevolent. I had seen a few over the years as a hatchling, and they had always been helpful and even protective of me, without even the promise of sweets.

"Hello, _Alux,_ " I said, bending down. It scampered back. Strange. The _Aluxo'ob_ never shrank from me before. As a hatchling they often approached me, but shirked by rookery siblings. At the time, I had assumed that it was because they sensed I would be kinder to them then many of my crueler siblings.

Now I had misgivings. I inched closer. The _Alux_ scampered back even further.

"Come now," I said. "I won't hurt you. I need your help."

It looked at me terrified.

I glanced down at the ice chunk in my talons. The _Aluxo'ob_ love sweets. And _cacao_ is usually reserved solely for royalty. It was likely that the _Aluxo'ob_ never had it before.

I cracked the ice apart with my talons and opened the box. I took one of the chocolates out and placed it on the ground in front of me. The _Alux_ eyed it suspiciously, but then darted forward and grabbed it, gobbling it up. It looked absolutely shocked. Then squeaked loudly. Suddenly, I found myself surrounded by a dozen of the little creatures.

"Jalapeña!" I exclaimed. Instantly the original _Alux_ was off like a shot. Moments later returning with a Jalapeño pepper.

"You…" He handed me the pepper. I stared at it blankly. Then at the other _Aluxo'ob.._ I quickly began pulling chocolates from the box and placing them in front of the little people. One by one they gasped in shock. Then began squeaking happily.

"That's all I have," I said, fishing out an empty glass jar and placing the jalapeño pepper in the jar, before sliding it into the pockets containing my mate's other plant samples including the dried leaves and carnivorous tree seed.

They squeaked loudly and happily again.

If it worked with the jalapeños…

"I need papaya fruit and purple orchid," I said. Like a shot from the guns of the Conquistadors the _Aluxo'ob_ darted back into the underbrush. Moments later they returned, each carrying either a papaya fruit or a flower blossom.

I smiled. I fished out the helm of Nabu and turned it upsidedown. I placed the flower blossoms and papaya fruits within the helm and placed it on the top of the satchel, resting the helm in the groove of the sheepskin containing the Serpent's Crown. I hung the satchel around Kebechet's neck.

"Go to Benuthet!" I instructed. Kebechet yipped, but then shot into the Green from the direction we came. About half of the _Aluxo'ob_ took off with her.

I turned to follow, when I heard the panther-like screech of a female gargoyle nearby. I glanced in the direction that Kebechet had gone. Of course I was worried about my mate. But I trusted Brooklyn would take care of him.

And I needed some answers. Answers that I was certain would not be found back at that temple.

I glanced down at the _Aluxo'ob_. "Can you take me to whomever screeched?"

They all squeaked and shot into the underbrush. Rapidly shaking plants along a path rather violently. I shot up the trunk of a tree, and then glided after them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I came to a small encampment surrounding a rather large freshwater cenote. There was meat hanging from lines strung along trees. A pot of poison dart frog poison was boiling over a firepit. Several arrows were dipped into the pot, soaking the deadly toxins into their tips.

I could also smell honey and bees nearby, and suspected a rather large hive in one of the trees.

I glanced around. The _Aluxo'ob_ seemed to have disappeared.

I bent down, examining the ground near the fire, cloaking my wings. I suddenly felt something cold and sharp pressing into my back.

"Who are you?" a female voice demanded.

I held up my talons and slowly got to me feet. If I was right, my questioner had a poison tipped arrow pressed against my back.

"I am called Zafira," I said. "May I turn around?"

She grunted, which I took as affirmation. I slowly turned. My captor was a _coatl_. She was armed with a bow and a quiver full of arrows. She had a reptilian face, and white feathered wings. Her skin was cobalt blue, and she was dressed similar to myself. She wore a black jaguar-skin loincloth and poncho-top.

She was rather strikingly beautiful, actually. I couldn't deny that she made my head turn, despite being happily mated. I wondered if I might get the chance to introduce her to Brooklyn. It would be nice to both end his loneliness _and_ give all three of us a lovely bit of eye-honey for future legs of the Timedance.

I shook off my lustful thoughts quickly. I had more pressing matters, after all.

"What are you doing in my camp, Zafira?" Cobalt Blue demanded. "How did you get past my _Aluxo'ob_ guards? I keep them well fed on honey to ensure their loyalty."

"Ah," I said. "I'm afraid that I offered them a treat that was better than honey and they've shifted allegiances."

"Traitorous little imps," she muttered.

"I mean you no harm," I said.

"You're not here to take me back to CamazotzKukulkan?" she inquired.

"You are from CamazotzKukulkan?" I asked, frowning.

She nodded grimly. "Yes, and unfortunately I caught Obsidian's eye. I had no choice but to leave."

"I think he may have shifted his affections towards myself," I said, remembering the leering eye he had given me over the course of the day.

"That is unfortunate for you," she said coldly.

"Why is everyone afraid of him?" I asked. "He's not actually done anything threatening towards anyone."

"He never does," Cobalt replied. "But he is still insidious. He was fascinated by _u meyah xwa'ay_ at a young age. The village _waay_ took him on as apprentice. This was when it started. He mastered it very quickly. And then his master died under mysterious circumstances."

"Mysterious circumstances?" I asked.

"A jaguar attack that killed, but did not eat him," she continued.

"I see…"

"Then he was chosen as second in command, for his skilles with _u meyah xwa'ay._ A week later, the leader died under mysterious circumstances. A centipede bite. Obsidian then began to rule the clan, and the village with an iron fist. Any who did not conform to his rule of law, found themselves dead under strange circumstances."

"You think he used magic to keep the village and the clan in line?" I said. "Through murder?"

"He does not like being told 'no'," Cobalt replied. "He chose me for a mate, but I was courting another male. I told him I was uninterested. Normally this is the end of such a conversation. Not for Obsidian. I told him 'no', and he could not stand that. The male I was courting…"

"Died under mysterious circumstances," I said, completing her sentence.

"I knew I wasn't safe with the clan," she said. "I took to the Green. The _Aluxo'ob_ hate him, because he uses their kind for magical experiments. With bribes of honey I've kept him and his beasts away. His specialty. He can use _u meyah xwa'ay_ to call the worst beasts of legend up from the depths of _Xibalba_. They follow his every command. He uses _Huay Chivo_ to control the villagers. Threatening their crops. As he doesn't turn to stone thanks to the Obsidian pendant, they have no defense against his rule of law."

A chill went down my spine.

"I think he just tried to kill my mate," I commented. "We sought the _Huay Chivo_ not but a few hours ago, but instead encountered _Eek' Chapaat._ Who only stung my mate."

"He does NOT like being told no," Cobalt Blue replied. "My worst fear is that he will find my camp during the day, when I sleep. The _Aluxo'ob_ can only give me warning. They cannot fight his minions."

"I have a better chance with this," I said, absently touching my Orichalcum pendant. "My mate is a _waay_ too. He crafted this pendant for me. It mimics the properties of the sun-amulets."

Without warning, Cobalt suddenly snatched the pendant from my neck, and darted up a nearby tree.

"I am sorry Zafira," she called out. "But I cannot let this opportunity pass."

"No!" I yelled. "You cannot!" But she was already leaping from tree to tree like a howler.

"The magic is not permanent!" I called after her, desperately trying to keep up pace. "I will fade in a matter of days!"

Suddenly the branch I was on snapped. I tumbled from the tree and onto the ground. I didn't hit hard, I used my wings as an airfoil to cushion my descent.

But I landed next to two more _coatls._ One was a gorgeous light-blue beaked female whose clan of origin I could not discern. Standing next to her, however, was Brooklyn and Fu-dog. Only…Brooklyn was dressed differently than he was when he had arrived. He wore some kind of armored breastplate and had an additional sword of a style identical to the female gargoyle standing next to him.

The three of us ogled each other in dead silence for several moments.

"I take it you're not the Brooklyn that I arrived here with," I commented quietly. "But rather his future counterpart."

The female gargoyle smirked.

"Uh-oh," Brooklyn sighed. "Busted."

 _ **To Be Continued…**_


	4. Chakmool

**Gargoyles Timedancer:**

 **Bloodstone**

 **11\. 1. 16. 8. 7**

The beaked female cleared her throat loudly and then lightly nudged Brooklyn with the butt of her sword-sheathe.

"Oh…Right! Duh!" Brooklyn said. "Zee this is Katana, my mate. Katana, this is Zafira."

"It is a pleasure and an honor to meet you, Zafira," Katana said, bowing. "Brooklyn has spoken of you and your mate fondly."

"The pleasure is absolutely mine, Katana," I said, holding out my arm. She clasped it with her own. I noticed that she only had three fingers on each talon. Almost the opposite of my Benuthet, who had extra fingers.

"So," I said, turning my attention towards Brooklyn. "I remember the rules from when we had to fight Benuthet's younger self as the Avatar of Apophis. History is immutable, so you can't directly interfere in the events of your own past."

"And really bad things can happen if you try," Brooklyn confirmed, nodding. "Still don't know where that piano came from, but I learned my lesson when it comes to trying to change things, Namely, I don't."

"But you have helped," I said, bending down and petting Fu-Dog. "You sent Fu-Dog to save me from the jaguar, and you fought alongside us against the _Eek' Chapaat_ under the cover of darkness."

"Why did you leave these two again?" Katana demanded of her mate.

"Uh…" Brooklyn stuttered for a moment.

"I understand," I said. "You can't answer while I'm here. What _can_ you tell me?"

"Obsidian's way worse than you think," Brooklyn said.

"That is a neat trick," I commented. "As I consider him beneath a leech."

"You won't make it back Benny and Younger-Me before dawn," Brooklyn said. "But you will be there when we wake up."

"That's not going to be easy," I said.

"Because Cobalt stole your pendant," Katana said. "We know."

"You'll figure it out," Brooklyn said.

"What else do I need to know?" I asked.

"Brooklyn is an idiot," Katana said.

"Hey!"

"I knew this much already," I commented.

"HEY!"

"But he is MY idiot," Katana said possessively. "I know him. I know his heart like my own. He is my everything. And I would know him no matter what his appearance. I assume that you feel the same about Benuthet?"

"Of course," I said, frowning.

"Good," Katana replied.

"Honeybunch," Brooklyn concern in his voice. "That's not what we said we were going to say to her. It's a little vague."

"Trust me, my love," Katana said.

"Always," Brooklyn sighed. "Guess we're going with cryptic and vague today. Sorry Zee."

"Thanks?" I said, cocking my head slightly to the side to stare at Katana. I did not know what Brooklyn's future mate was trying to tell me, but I sensed it was important.

"One last thing," Brooklyn said. "Tell past-me that Puck's Spell will work."

"Obsidian is worse than I think, know my mate, Puck's Spell will work," I said. "Got it."

"We've got a few more fires that we've got to put out," Brooklyn said. "Oh and one last thing. Now that I am mated, I can confirm. Don't keep stuff from your mate."

"Have you been holding onto that comment for the last…what five years?" I demanded, placing my arms on my hips.

"More like the last three hours, when you reminded him of it while we were eavesdropping on you," Katana smirked.

"Katana…I'm supposed to be all futurey and mysterious, don't wreck the mood!" Brooklyn said.

"Brooklyn," Katana said, feigning innocence. "She has met you. She knows better."

"I like you," I commented.

"Come on, Katana," Brooklyn said. "We got to be at the thing for the thing."

" _Hai,_ " Katana grunted in affirmation. The three of them darted into the Green. That sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach returned. Far from being reassuring, the presence of Brooklyn's future self indicated that the situation in this time period was so bad he was needed here twice.

As if I didn't have enough anxieties.

I scrabbled up a tree, and began leaping from tree to tree like a Howler. Cobalt also had legs, so I imagine that she, like me, found that she was a more agile climber and tree-leaper than serpentine gargoyles such as Obsidian.

If I could just figure out where she went, I could reclaim the pendant before dawn, which was looking less and less likely.

I could already see the light blue of the horizon slowly growing in the east. And Cobalt was nowhere to be seen.

Brooklyn and Katana were aware that Cobalt had my pendant, which meant that I must have told Brooklyn in the future.

Whatever fires Brooklyn needed to put out, he had made a point of not letting me see, which likely meant that there was a bigger plan in place that Brooklyn had to follow. Fowling that up would be bad, but I was still unable to figure out how to deal with the Cobalt problem.

If I turned to stone, I would be out of commission for 12 hours and then whatever plan that Obsidian was going to implement to hurt my mate during the day would occur.

Frustrated, I let out a snarl.

A jaguar on the ground snarled back at me, but kept moving.

 _Wait,_ I realized suddenly.

Jaguars did not turn to stone.

I snatched up the jaguar bloodstone pendant from where it hung on my waist. Hanging it around my neck, I took my obsidian blade and sliced the tip of my left foretalon, I pressed the blood against the pendant, which began glowing.

I leapt down from the tree, falling onto all fours. My wings crumpled up and withered on my back. My talons reshaped themselves into the jaguar's cat-like paws. My tail became thin and narrow and actually became slightly number. Gargoyle tails are prehensile, like that of Howlers and Spider monkeys. Jaguar tails are not.

I felt my forehead crest crumple up and disappear into my skull, and my clothes and sword vanished, though I knew from seeing others use the pendant that they would return when I transformed back.

I was and ordinary speckled jaguar, lacking the lustrous black coat that Six-Jaguar had when he used the pendant. Black Jaguars were better night hunters, while the ordinary red-orange spotted jaguars preferred daytime hunting.

The irony of my jaguar form being a daylight hunter was not lost on me.

I had been transformed into another creature before. Once by the gargoyle sorceress-turned-avatar Demona, who transformed me into a Beast like Fu-dog and Kebechet, and once by the Babylonian creature Kingu, who temporarily turned me into beast of burden used by the humans of the Tigris river valley.

Both times the transformation had been forced, and rather unpleasant. Both times Benuthet had to risk his life to transform me back.

But becoming the jaguar of my own volition? It was freeing. Pleasant even. I actually liked it.

The jaguar was built like liquid lightning, I moved through the forest floor with intense grace and poise. No wonder Jaguars were the symbols of Kingship and K'awilil, the god of kingship.

Because I was definitely queen of this jungle. I could smell Cobalt on the wind now, and followed the scent as fast as my jaguar body could take me.

I came to a large clearing.

"Are you certain you understand what you need to do?" Brooklyn asked Cobalt.

"Yes, yes," Cobalt replied, looking around anxiously. "I understand."

"It's a pretty big deal," Brooklyn continued.

"But it will hurt Obsidian," Cobalt replied.

"Correct," Katana said, anxiously looking around.

"Then I will do it," Cobalt replied. She glanced over at me.

"That jaguar is a transformation!" she yelped. "One of Obsidian's servants! The pendant!"

"Crap!" Brooklyn yelped, drawing his sword. Katana drew hers as well, just as the rays of the sun broke the horizon, freezing the mated pair in stone sleep. Despite their blades being drawn, the humility spell touched them and even the swords became stone.

Cobalt and I were the only ones still flesh. She immediately drew a poisoned arrow and notched it into her bow.

I could not transform back and reveal that I was Zafira, or I would become stone too.

Clearly Brooklyn and Katana's bigger plan involved Cobalt, so if I attacked her to take back the pendant, I was endangering that.

My only option was to turn tail and run. Back into the jungle, and as far away and as quickly as I could before Cobalt could catch me.

Unfortunately, she had decided to follow me. I could hear her moving through the trees above me, leaping from branch to branch like a Howler, much like I did when I wanted to move. There was a sharp shooting pain in my shoulder as her poison-tipped arrow struck my shoulder.

 _Oh this is not good,_ I realized as I staggered. The poison was now in my blood, and I knew from experience that it worked quickly.

I staggered towards the pyramid where the younger version of Brooklyn, Benuthet, Kebechet, and younger Fu-Dog should all be waiting.

And they were. They mysterious pyramid itself was gone, but I could see Brooklyn's stone form, cradling Benuthet's stone form, with Fu-dog and Kebechet's stone forms standing guard on either side.

Staggering back to them, I allowed the pendant to transform me back. I pulled the arrow from my shoulder, and turned around towards Cobalt defiantly.

She looked absolutely shocked to see me, rather than one of Obsidian's human slaves, like the girl whom I had lifted the pendant from in the first place.

"Go wherever Brooklyn and Katana told you to be," I said. "Trust me, they know more than we do!"

She nodded curtly and turned to leave.

I never saw her departure, as that was when stone sleep overtook me.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **11\. 16. 6. 8. 1**

 _Not having the serpentine form of my rookery siblings was both a blessing and a curse. Mostly a curse. Moving through the thick canopy was far more difficult for me than them. But my legs did come with one small advantage. I was a far better climber. I could scrabble up and down trees like a howler, while they had to glide or use their arms to hoist their whole weight up the tree._

 _As such I spent much of my youth in the trees, leaping from tree to tree, to stay away from my more irritating rookery siblings._

 _As I leapt past a very surprised Howler, I noticed my bat-like green-skinned rookery brother down below, following my Balanced Mother out into the forest._

 _Curious and with little else to do at the time, I followed, leaping from tree to tree like a Howler. At the edge of the Clan Territory I saw my balanced mother stop near a human._

 _The human wore a green cloak, and behind him was a very large stone structure that I was certain had not been there before._

 _"My leader," Balanced Mother said._

 _"I hope you enjoyed your little vacation," the human said._

 _"It was a nice lifetime, but I am eager to get back to the work," Balanced Mother said._

 _"Mother?" my bat-like rookery brother said. "Are you leaving us?"_

 _My Balanced mother turned around, and crouched down. "I'm afraid so my son. My love has passed away, and I feel I must go too. Do not weep for me, just remember what I and my other rookery mothers taught you, and I will never be far from your heart."_

 _My rookery brother hugged my balanced mother who embraced him back. "Run along now child,"_

 _My brother slithered away, but I leapt closer, wanting to know more about this human who was stealing my rookery mother away. Neither looked up or noticed me in the trees._

 _"You're a good mother," the human said._

 _"Pity you and your mate never had children, Leader," she replied. "It is a rewarding experience every time I do it."_

 _"I can't help but notice that red one with the blue wings looks an awful lot like-,"_

 _"The gargoyle from Cairo we met in Ten-Seventy-Eight?" my mother interrupted. "Yes. I noticed that too. I do believe they are the same. Part of why I wish to leave now. He's coming. Soon. And he hasn't met me yet. And Cairo proved that attempting to change things is a catastrophe waiting to happen."_

 _"Actually I was going to say she looks a lot like your mate," the human replied. "Same coloring and distinctive forehead crest."_

 _"So?" my mother replied._

 _The human chuckled and shook his head. "Gargoyles and your rookeries. You never notice it, do you? What about the rumors that this clan has magic pendants that let them avoid stone sleep."_

 _"That is true," my mother said. "And their sister clan to the north. Two each, four total."_

 _"And?"_

 _"And they should keep them," she replied. "They're far more useful to them then us."_

 _"Always your call."_

 _"Shall we?" my mother said. I watched her and the human step into the stone structure, which then vanished into the mists. I leapt down from my tree, flaring my wings as an airfoil and landing nimbly upon the ground. I scampered over to where the stone structure had stood._

 _There was no sign that it was ever there._

 **11\. 1. 16. 8. 7**

Dreaming old dreams about my Balanced Mother was nothing new. I thought of her often. Especially the bizarre way she had vanished, and the odd conversation that she'd had with the human before it had happened.

I'd wondered as of late, if the conversation had something to do with my current travels with Brooklyn and Benuthet. It was beginning to seem likely.

With a triumphant roar I burst free from my stone sleep, sucking in a deep breath of air as I did.

There was a groaning sound behind me as Brooklyn helped Benuthet up.

"How you feeling buddy?" Brooklyn asked.

"Healed but not whole," Benuthet said. Alarm bells went off in my head. There was something wrong with the way Benuthet was speaking.

"My beloved beauty!" Benuthet said turning towards me. That's when I knew what was wrong. It was the words. The words were wrong. In an instant, I slammed him to the ground with my foot.

Benuthet was the better swordsman than I was, but we had determined very early on that I was more skilled in hand to hand combat, and he could not beat me. Particularly since he was caught quite off guard, and was...well…

"Who in the Xibulba are you?" I demanded pressing the poisoned arrow that Cobalt had shot me with up to his neck.

"Jesus, Zee!" Brooklyn yelped. "What the hell?"

"Who are you," I demanded again. "And where is my _Sak Chakmool,_ Where is my Benuthet!?"

 _ **To be concluded…**_


	5. Obsidian

**Gargoyles Timedancer:**

 **Bloodstone**

 **11\. 1. 16. 8. 7**

"Zee! What are you doing?" Brooklyn asked his voice on the edge of panic. "Have you gone completely off the reservation?"

"He called me 'his beloved beauty'," I said.

"He always calls you that!" Brooklyn said. "You call him 'white jaguar' he calls you 'beloved beauty' and I gag a little because it's so sickeningly sweet!"

"Yes," I said. "But normally he calls me 'beloved beauty' in Egyptian. Not Mayan. Indeed, my Benuthet typically speaks in Alexandrian Greek. He only knows a handful of Mayan, that which I have taught him."

Brooklyn paused, as if struggling to recall how Benuthet had been speaking. Even I hadn't noticed the specifics right away.

When traveling with the Phoenix, it was very easy to take language for granted, as the Phoenix will automatically translate anything spoken or written. But my mate, my Benuthet spoke several languages, and had an ear for them. He noticed the nuances of the Phoenix's magic that were far less obvious than Brooklyn or I had.

"Benny how'd we meet?" Brooklyn demanded.

The being posing as my mate grunted, but did not answer.

"We met in Rome," Cobalt's voice said. "During the forum between the clans, to determine those who would go to New Olympus."

I spun around, not taking my talon off of 'Benuthet's' chest.

"My _Meryt Nefer_ ," Cobalt said, smiling. "Your skills of deduction impress me wholeheartedly. I am humbled, my love."

"Okay," Brooklyn said. "Weird hot gar-girl I've never met before is speaking Greek and acting like Benny. This is a weird dance."

"I had some assistance," I admitted looking at Cobalt appraisingly. "However the whole picture eludes me."

"Soul transfers," Cobalt/Benuthet said. "Are tricky and require voluntary participation."

"And have loose definitions of 'voluntary'," Brooklyn interjected again.

"Quite," Cobalt replied. "And one of those definitions is that of my _Ba_ dream. My spirit wanders, so my vessel has a vacancy. One that our host Obsidian took advantage of in order make himself at home in my body."

"Okay," Brooklyn said. "So that's…Obsidian. What if Zee hadn't…oh…ugh….ew…"

"Quite," Cobalt said. "Fortunately a moot point, as my Zafira has…"

"Mad detective skills?" Brooklyn grinned.

"Quite," Cobalt agreed again.

"I did have a little help," I said, considering Katana's cryptic message to me the previous night.

"Okay, so if he's really Obsidian wearing a Benuthet suit, and Zee put down the poison arrow, I assume Benny wants his body back alive," Brooklyn said. I realized the implication and tossed the arrow aside, keeping my talon on 'Benny's' chest.

"Then how did you end up in the hottie with the body," Brooklyn continued.

"A most curious thing indeed," Cobalt said. "With no grip on the earth plane, my _ba_ threatened to dissipate into the wind. I had no hope of remaining on this plane without a vessel. I realized immediately who and how my own body had become occupied, and I went seeking Obsidian's certain that if he was occupying my body, I could take his. Naturally, Obsidian must have considered this, as I could not find his body anywhere."

Cobalt looked me in the eye.

"I thought I was doomed, until this mysterious gargoyle broke into Obsidian's lab and declared in a loud clear voice 'Benuthet, I accept your spirit into my body, take me and hurt Obsidian.'"

'Benuthet' growled beneath my foot, I lightly squeezed my talon.

"I wasn't going to look a gift-horse in the mouth, as the Romans say," Cobalt continued. "I immediately occupied her, and grabbed the obsidian mirror that Obsidian showed me last night, and made my way towards you. Unfortunately, the Orichalcum pendant's magic has been overtaxed. The joining spell I cast upon it faded, and I found myself caught in stone sleep before I could return here."

"How did she know to invite your spirit in?" Brooklyn wondered. "I mean…she called you by name?"

"It is a mystery," Cobalt said, eyeing me and smirking.

"I may have a notion," I said. "Which I shall share with you later, Brooklyn. For now…How will return Benuthet to his proper body?"

'Benuthet' growled again. Obsidian knew he'd been outplayed. But he still had one move left on the _Boolik_ board.

"Soul transfers are tricky," Cobalt said.

"And require voluntary participation," I echoed. "He has to vacate willingly."

"Which I will not," Benuthet said, breaking his silence and speaking as Obsidian for the first time.

"Even if we could get him to volunteer," Cobalt said. "There is still another issue."

He held up the mirror.

"Examination of the Talisman indicates that it is of the Third Race," Benuthet said. "Without an incantation provided by one of them, I cannot get it to activate. I don't suppose anyone knows one offhand?"

I suddenly remembered what Future-Brooklyn said to me the previous night, and grabbed current-Brooklyn's arm.

"'Puck's Spell will work'," I quoted.

"Wait, what?" Brooklyn asked. "How did you know about that? How do you know anything about that?"

"Trust me," I said. "It will."

Cobalt handed Brooklyn the Obsidian mirror, who looked at it like it was covered in centipedes.

"Now all we have to do is get him to vacate," Cobalt said dryly.

Benuthet growled at her.

"Fu-dog, Kebechet," I said. "Hold him."

The beasts immediately complied, climbing on top of 'Benuthet' and holding him down. At a guess, both of them could sense something was wrong with Kebechet's master, as neither had made a move against me when I had flipped him to the ground.

"This is not so bad," I said, walking over to Cobalt's side. I gingerly ran a talon up her arm. "I am attracted to both males and females and this body is…very attractive. If we must make do, it will not be the worst thing, my love."

"Uh, not Benny's body, Zee!" Brooklyn said in alarm. "And trust me, Cobalt is not dormant. She knows what's going on. You may find her attractive, but she might not feel the same."

"That is true," I said, leaving a lingering arm on Cobalt's neck. She was blushing quite furiously, though I wasn't sure if Benuthet was embarrassed by the public nature of my actions, or the realization that the body he was currently occupying was aware of my actions.

"But if Obsidian will not vacate," I said. "Then we will have to make do. Not ideal, perhaps, but tolerable. And Cobalt despises Obsidian just enough that she will accept this outcome."

"After all," I said, embracing Cobalt's body and running my talons down her hair passionately. "Is there anything that would be more infuriating to Obsidian than both of the _coatls_ he pursued being mates with one another rather than him?"

Benuthet roared angrily.

"It's like the most potent way of saying 'no means…NO'" I said, smiling.

"RRRRROOOOOAAAR!" Benuthet snarled gutterally.

"NO!" I said out loud. I was met with another roar.

"NO!" I said again. I ran my talons through Cobalt's hair one more time.

"A thousand times 'No'," Cobalt said, smiling, and she returned the embrace.

That did it. Obsidian was boiling with rage. Benuthet's mouth opened and a burst of green mist poured out of the opening.

"NOW BROOKLYN!" Cobalt and I declared in unison.

"Cast the incantation now!" Cobalt clarified.

" _For the spirit to be willing,"_ Brooklyn said, holding the mirror up. _"The Flesh must first grow weak! Just long enough for soul in flight to pass from cheek to cheek!"_

The mirror glowed, and a burst of blue light erupted from Cobalt's mouth and shot into Benuthet's open maw.

The was a gasp from both of them and Cobalt pulled away from me.

"Apologies," I said to her sheepishly.

"I should be the one apologizing," she said, tossing me the Orichalcum Crystal. I caught it in midair.

"You saved my mate's soul, if not his life," I said. "Trust me, there is nothing to apologize for."

"I still don't understand half of this," she said, eying Brooklyn.

"You get used to that," I replied.

"My love, my friends," Benuthet said.

The green mist had now coalesced into a solid form. That of Obsidian.

"How dare you!" He demanded. "How dare all of you! I am the son of Ah Pukuh! I am a god! You have no right to defy my will!"

"He's a Halfling!" Benuthet said. "That explains why I couldn't find his body! He converted into magic when he possessed me!"

"It is likely that the centipede venom was never meant to kill you," I said. "Only weaken your spirit until he tried to take over your body."

"Which he likely planned to do since the moment you mentioned my _ba_ dreams," Benuthet said. He shuddered slightly. "I think I'm going to close off my Spirit for a time. I do not like the idea of my body being possessed while my spirit wanders. And thank you, dear Cobalt, for housing my spirit."

"It hurt him," Cobalt replied, taking one of her poisoned arrows and notching it. "That makes it absolutely my pleasure."

" _Baat!_ ," Obsidian declared, as two ethereal green battle axes appeared within his talons.

"Okay guys," Brooklyn said drawing his sword. "Let's take this jerk down! Fu-dog, left! Kebechet right. Zee direct assault. Benny, make with some magic!"

I drew my own obsidian blade and surged forward, violently striking at the _wa'ay_ with my blade. I was fast, far, faster than he was. With a strike and a parry of my blade I had disarmed him of his magical weapons. Unfortunately, two more simply spawned in his hands.

I struck again, reminding me of the battle with Isabella Canmore, I could barely keep up with her sword skills. Given enough time, she would have bested me. I felt much the same here.

" _K'aak heets'a'an!"_ Obsidian declared, a whip of flame erupting from each of his ethereal battle axes, suddenly forcing me to back off.

Fu-dog and Kebechet snarled at him, snapping at his tail, he cracked the whip, and forced the two beasts to retreat with a shower of sparks.

" _Fulminos Venite!"_ Benuthet declared, a bolt of lightning striking forth from his wand. Obsidian was caught off-guard by that and staggered back. Cobalt took advantage of the distraction and fired off a poison-tipped arrow.

Obsidian roared in anger, his eyes glowing green. He wildly flailed his whip and it struck Brooklyn, sending him flying and crashing into a tree, rendering him unconscious.

In that instant there was a massive roar from above and Brooklyn's older self, Katana, and Fu-dog launched forth from the trees swooping down and attacking Obsidian from above.

I noticed original Brooklyn's sword laying upon the ground. I snatched the steel blade up, and took a flying leap upon Obsidian, stabbing him in the chest with Brooklyn's blade.

He let out a gutteral roar and transformed into green smoke, dissipating into the night. The obsidian pendant tumbled to the ground, and I snatched it up. I turned towards Cobalt and tossed it to her.

"You are Obsidian now," I said. "I know you will wear the pendant well."

"I…I am honored," she said.

"Hello, Brooklyn," Benuthet said, putting his wand away. "Hello Brooklyn's mate. May I say that the stories do not do you justice. You are many times lovelier and fiercer in battle than they say."

" _Domo,"_ Katana bowed.

"You knew?" Brooklyn wondered out loud.

"About which?" Benuthet wondered. "Your mate, or your presence?"

"Both?" Brooklyn said.

"Of course I knew about your mate," Benuthet said, sidling up next to me. "I told you. Stories about you were my favorite as a hatchling. As to your presence…I suspected when Fu-dog was in two places at once, and rescued Zafira."

At this, he gestured towards Fu-dog and Fu-dog's younger self, who were sniffing each other curiously. Kebechet looked at the pair, looking rather confused. She sat down and cocked one ear upwards, looking at the pair curiously.

"Which was later confirmed by my _ba_ dream," Benuthet said. "When I saw you sleeping. I assume that you were the reason the Cobalt knew to invite my spirit into her body?"

Brooklyn nodded. "Don't forget to tell him about this, so that I know to do it," he pointed over at his younger self, whom Katana was now kneeling next to. I took the Orichalcum pendant and approached him.

"He is so lonely, right now," Katana said to me. "It makes my heart ache."

"But soon, he will find you," I said. "Trust me. I have traveled with him. I sense his loneliness now…"

I glanced over at his older self.

"But I sense his happiness with you, and it is as different as day and night. And as a gargoyle who has walked in both, you know I speak truth." I said.

Katana smiled, pursing her beak and gently kissing Brooklyn's younger self's beak, before standing up and turning back to her current-mate.

"We should get going before he wakes up," Brooklyn said, taking Katana's talon in his own.

He paused by the beasts, unsure which version of Fu-dog was his.

"It's this one, Love," Katana said, petting the slightly-older version of Fu-dog. "Honestly, how did you ever manage without me?"

"We helped a little," Benuthet called out.

Katana rolled her eyes and lightly smacked Brooklyn in the back of the head.

"One more thing," Brooklyn called back. "Say hi to Makani for me!"

"I'm sure that will make sense soon," Benuthet muttered, gingerly examining our version of Brooklyn.

I turned towards Cobalt, and tossed the bloodstone jaguar pendant to her as well. She caught it in surprise.

"Place that in Obsidian's lab," I said. "It is where it will be found again in three hundred years. And be careful. He is of the Third Race. He might not actually have been killed in this conflict."

"I promise," Cobalt said. "It will be done."

I handed Benuthet the Orichalcum pendant, which he pressed against the burn-mark on our Brooklyn's chest. There was a glow and a surge of magical energy and the burn vanished. Benuthet placed the crystal in his satchel.

Brooklyn gasped, suddenly jerking awake.

"Did we win?" he asked.

"We did," I said.

"How?" Brooklyn said. There was a burst of orange light above us. The Phoenix had arrived.

"We'll tell you in a bit," I said as Benuthet gathered up Kebechet and Brooklyn gathered up Fu-dog.

The four of us leapt into the phantasmal flames of the Phoenix.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **12\. 8. 14. 11. 13**

Seconds later we were in the sky above a massive mountain. To my surprise and pleasure, the temperature had not changed all that drastically.

"During that last Dance-," I started to say, when suddenly there was a massive rumbling sound beneath us, and the mountain suddenly exploded like a hot tamale overstuffed with meat. An intensely hot orange goo poured out.

The waves of heat created a massive thermal updraft that shot us into the sky with rapid speed far greater than that which most _coatls_ are comfortable gliding at.

"That is hot!" Benuthet said, clutching his satchel and holding Kebechet tightly. He was scanning the orange glow beneath us, looking for…something. I suspected that I knew.

There was another massive explosion and more lava began flowing down the mountain. And then another. Another. The heat kept forcing us further and further upwards, and was still so intense that our skin felt like we had been playing inside a giant oven.

"Okay, just for the record, Zee…" said Brooklyn, struggling to be heard over the din. "No offense, but I blame _you_ for this."

"Because during our Dance to those 'Heema-laya, I complained _once_ about the cold?" I shot back, trying to shield my face from the heat. "That does not mean that…!"

"My friend, my love. With due respect, perhaps we should finish this conversation another time?" Benuthet called out.

Brooklyn and I glanced around. Benuthet was right; this was not the time. Not if we wanted to see the moonlight of another night. We had to get away from this exploding mountain before it was too late.

 _ **Brooklyn, Fu-dog, Benuthet, Zafira, and Kebechet will return in Hawaiki, by Masterdramon…**_


	6. End Credits

With the voice talents of

 **Jeffrey Glenn Bennett- Brooklyn, Aztec Warrior**

 **Ming Na- Katana, Young Mayan Girl**

 **Alanna Ubach- Zafira, Blue Rookery Mother**

 **Dee Bradley Baker- Fu-Dog, Alux'ub**

 **Frank Welker- Kebechet, 'Eek Chapaat, Huoy Chivo**

 **Khary Peyton- Benuthet**

 **Ron Perlman- Obsidian**

 **Lexi Medrano- Cobalt, Chubby Rookery Mother**

 **Stana Katic- Tamora the Goth**

 **Eddie Marsan- Cloaked Figure**

 **Eric Lopez-Camazotz**

 **A Special Thanks to Algernon who served as beta.**

 **Gargoyles is property of the Walt Disney Corporation**

 **Tamora and Zafira Cover Artwork by DTaina on Deviant Art, she is good. Buy a Commission from her!**

 **Brooklyn, Fu-dog, Benuthet, Zafira, and Kebechet will return in** _ **Hawaiki**_ **, by Masterdramon.**

 **Check out the latest fics from Algernon84: Bad Blood, also part of the Age of Gargoyles Continuity**

 **Check out the latest fics from GregX: Wavering Eyes, Also part of the Age of Gargoyles Continuity.**


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